Give Your Herd Health Records a Tune-up

By TAYLOR LEACH August 12, 2022

On herd health day, how often do you find yourself scribbling notes and jotting down cow numbers on random pieces of paper? Probably often. But how often do you forget to plug those notes into your herd health system? Probably more than you care to admit.

As dairy farmers, our jobs can vary day-to-day and even hour-by-hour. With the constant hustle and bustle of keeping the operation running smoothly at the forefront of every farmer's mind, letting a few notes slip through the cracks may not seem like a big deal, but it can have larger consequences down the road.

According to David Winston, an Extension Dairy Specialist for Virginia Tech, today's health records perform best when they are complete and recorded electronically so that the data can be sorted and summarized easily. Incomplete records may paint an inaccurate picture of the herd's overall health. This can lead to lower milk production, higher vet bills and money drained from the farm's bank account.

Winston offers the following tips to help keep herd health records in tip-top shape.

KNOW YOUR PROTOCOLS

"Written protocols for diagnosing and treating diseases in a herd is an important first step in health data collection," Winston says. "Consistent practices make evaluation much easier. Herd evaluation begins with recording information for individual cows."

When an animal becomes sick, it's important to record the following.

• What was the animal's diagnosis?
• What treatment protocol was used? (If no treatment was administered, that should also be recorded.)
• What was the outcome? (Did the animal get well? Have a relapse? Die?)
• How many days did the cow spend in the sick pen?
• How many days was milk discarded?

TAKE TIME TO RECORD

Time is often the biggest factor when it comes to incomplete health records. Winston recommends setting aside time each week to make sure data is up to date and accurate.

"The adage, 'If you can't measure it, you can't manage it,' certainly applies to health records on dairy farms," Winston notes. "Accurate and complete health records can complement other herd data used for evaluating and troubleshooting. Many more tools are available now, but they do require an investment in time to set up, maintain, and analyze. Better information means better decisions leading to increased profitability, making the investment of time worthwhile."